In the present day (2013), hackers takes down domestic infrastructure. Foreign terrorists use a virus to decimate the American population. The virus was supplied by an unknown foreign country (Russia, China, Iran, DPRK?) and destroyed North America.
Infrastructure collapses with pockets of electricity and internet access still existing around sources of alternative energy. Communities of academics begin to develop steam punk technology.
Civil unrest unfolds and is followed by martial law. A militant group uses the panic to gain control, all in the name of an unseen Big Brother. Their police forces expropriate food in order to ration it. Communities arm themselves against police. Barricades are set up in the street and feudal-like enclaves form. Pirates/vikings/boat people control Lake Michigan. People tend to gather around sources of fresh water. It is not uncommon for large caravans of migrants to be seen travelling to more hospitable locations.
Disease caused by malnutrition spreads in addition to the virus.
Some people initially move out to the suburbs to access abandoned farmland but are now beginning to re-enter the city proper.
People don't go to Chicago...and not just because of the Bears fans. A suitcase nuke was detonated by mistake in the heart of downtown Chicago, leaving the metro area devastated. Many found it hard to fathom that the device itself was a dud; it was supposed to take out the Great Lakes region entirely, but misfired and only took out the greater part of Chicago. The fallout contaminated a swath of prime cropland and was one of the factors that lead to the rationing of food and other essentials. Several enclaves sprung up in the affected area of missionaries to care for the sick and dying in the aftermath, some of which persist to this day.
The military quickly cordoned off the entire city and declared martial law in the hardest hit areas of the fallout zone. Not much lives inside the cordon zone, and the military actively discourages visitors. That does not stop thrill-seekers, however.
The fallout zones are mostly safe to live in, people still steer clear, since the water and soil will likely stay contaminated for years to come. The missionary enclaves struck a deal early on with the military for supplies in exchange for information, mostly on where isolated areas of internet-enabled tech persist.
Infrastructure collapses with pockets of electricity and internet access still existing around sources of alternative energy. Communities of academics begin to develop steam punk technology.
Civil unrest unfolds and is followed by martial law. A militant group uses the panic to gain control, all in the name of an unseen Big Brother. Their police forces expropriate food in order to ration it. Communities arm themselves against police. Barricades are set up in the street and feudal-like enclaves form. Pirates/vikings/boat people control Lake Michigan. People tend to gather around sources of fresh water. It is not uncommon for large caravans of migrants to be seen travelling to more hospitable locations.
Disease caused by malnutrition spreads in addition to the virus.
Some people initially move out to the suburbs to access abandoned farmland but are now beginning to re-enter the city proper.
People don't go to Chicago...and not just because of the Bears fans. A suitcase nuke was detonated by mistake in the heart of downtown Chicago, leaving the metro area devastated. Many found it hard to fathom that the device itself was a dud; it was supposed to take out the Great Lakes region entirely, but misfired and only took out the greater part of Chicago. The fallout contaminated a swath of prime cropland and was one of the factors that lead to the rationing of food and other essentials. Several enclaves sprung up in the affected area of missionaries to care for the sick and dying in the aftermath, some of which persist to this day.
The military quickly cordoned off the entire city and declared martial law in the hardest hit areas of the fallout zone. Not much lives inside the cordon zone, and the military actively discourages visitors. That does not stop thrill-seekers, however.
The fallout zones are mostly safe to live in, people still steer clear, since the water and soil will likely stay contaminated for years to come. The missionary enclaves struck a deal early on with the military for supplies in exchange for information, mostly on where isolated areas of internet-enabled tech persist.